Thanksgiving Raton Pass. Survey

[Doug Engel]

Bruce, I had figured that unless I went big (read:300HP+) I would not get enough
bang for my buck. One of our issues with the new bird is while living in
Gunnison has its benefits, you have to drive over a pass any direction you head
out of here. For instance, to head east, Monarch Pass is the most direct route,
11K'+, the climb up is about 7 miles, at 20 MPH, that's about 20-25 minutes, not
a great delay in the grand scheme of things, but fairly arduous, and I hate
holding up traffic. I know that I could (if I were able) spend another $250K and
scoot right up in some other, high HP bus, but then I wouldn't have a vintage
Bird...oh the injustice of it all. It seems that the 3208T is the easiest choice
for a repower, but alot of work and several $$$ for another 15ish MPH. I see
some folks doing a Cummins conversion, but I can't imagine it would be alot
better...if any, just more work. Seems like a medium duty Duramax with the
Allison might be a good choice, but now we start
re-inventing the wheel, we bought the bus for recreation, not another project.
Any thoughts?? Doug

birdshill123 wrote: I have always used the
Raton Pass as my "dyno test" Our 88 FC is able
to maintain 32mph while towing a 4400 lb. Toyota Tacoma. The Bird was
empty as we had just bought our baby and were driving it home. I have
never driven an NA FC but there is a big difference in power from a 250
Turbo to the 300 Turbo.

Bruce
1988 FC35






Doug Engel, Gunnison, CO. 1981 FC35SB "Pokey"

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[birdshill123]

Doug:

Sometimes you just have to live with what you have. In drag racing we
called this " run what you brung" Our Bounder 39Z with a 300 HP Cummins
will climb that same pass at 42 to 45 mph. I have seen big HP units
that can climb as fast as they want to go. I dont have to be the first
up the hill but I do not want to drive at 12 mph. We will be using our
Bird in Southern Mexico and there are some mountains where the climb up
is nothing compared to the downhill ride. I wish the brakes were
better. THe ZF tranny brake is not that great. It heats up quickly. You
also have to make sure you slow down enought to let it downshift. A
whole different way of driving. I am envious of the earlier Birds with
the electric driveshaft brake.

Bruce
1988 FC35

[Lewandowski98040]

When I contacted my insurance company (Pemco) to add our newly
acquired 1980 Bird, a with it's naturally aspirated 3208, the agent
required me to swear, among other things, "that this vehicle will
never be entered in organized road racing or in competitive off-road
driving events."

I reluctantly surrendered my racing rights, thus dashing my dreams of
30 second tire changes followed by trophy winning dashes across
Snoqualmie Pass.

George & Roberta Lewandowski
1980 FC 31' (a work in progress)

[Doug Engel]

All points well well taken. I would also agree that in the grand scheme of
things, better ability to slow down would be nice also. I suppose I just have to
put my bus racing aspirations aside and enjoy the view. Happy T-Day. Doug

Lewandowski98040 wrote: When I
contacted my insurance company (Pemco) to add our newly
acquired 1980 Bird, a with it's naturally aspirated 3208, the agent
required me to swear, among other things, "that this vehicle will
never be entered in organized road racing or in competitive off-road
driving events."

I reluctantly surrendered my racing rights, thus dashing my dreams of
30 second tire changes followed by trophy winning dashes across
Snoqualmie Pass.

George & Roberta Lewandowski
1980 FC 31' (a work in progress)






Doug Engel, Gunnison, CO. 1981 FC35SB "Pokey"

---------------------------------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[davidkerryedwards]

Take the post about the 391 gasser climbing Raton Pass at 12mph, print it out
and tape it
to the dash just above the steering wheel. It will make you feel much better
during that 25
minutes.
Since I live in Denver, most of my motorhome driving is outside of Colorado with
only a
small percentage of steep hills. I decided I like the Bird enough, and the
other power
options being not much better, that living with slow climbs was acceptable. I
definitely
would not want to use it to commute from Denver to Grand Junction daily.

Kerry
82FC 35
Denver

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Doug Engel wrote:
>
> Bruce, I had figured that unless I went big (read:300HP+) I would not get
enough bang
for my buck. One of our issues with the new bird is while living in Gunnison has
its
benefits, you have to drive over a pass any direction you head out of here. For
instance, to
head east, Monarch Pass is the most direct route, 11K'+, the climb up is about 7
miles, at
20 MPH, that's about 20-25 minutes, not a great delay in the grand scheme of
things, but
fairly arduous, and I hate holding up traffic. I know that I could (if I were
able) spend
another $250K and scoot right up in some other, high HP bus, but then I wouldn't
have a
vintage Bird...oh the injustice of it all. It seems that the 3208T is the
easiest choice for a
repower, but alot of work and several $$$ for another 15ish MPH. I see some
folks doing a
Cummins conversion, but I can't imagine it would be alot better...if any, just
more work.
Seems like a medium duty Duramax with the Allison might be a good choice, but
now we
start
> re-inventing the wheel, we bought the bus for recreation, not another
project. Any
thoughts?? Doug
>

[Doug Engel]

Yes, but think how comfy you would be in traffic snarls. Doug

davidkerryedwards wrote: Take the post about
the 391 gasser climbing Raton Pass at 12mph, print it out and tape it
to the dash just above the steering wheel. It will make you feel much better
during that 25
minutes.
Since I live in Denver, most of my motorhome driving is outside of Colorado with
only a
small percentage of steep hills. I decided I like the Bird enough, and the other
power
options being not much better, that living with slow climbs was acceptable. I
definitely
would not want to use it to commute from Denver to Grand Junction daily.

Kerry
82FC 35
Denver

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Doug Engel wrote:
>
> Bruce, I had figured that unless I went big (read:300HP+) I would not get
enough bang
for my buck. One of our issues with the new bird is while living in Gunnison has
its
benefits, you have to drive over a pass any direction you head out of here. For
instance, to
head east, Monarch Pass is the most direct route, 11K'+, the climb up is about 7
miles, at
20 MPH, that's about 20-25 minutes, not a great delay in the grand scheme of
things, but
fairly arduous, and I hate holding up traffic. I know that I could (if I were
able) spend
another $250K and scoot right up in some other, high HP bus, but then I wouldn't
have a
vintage Bird...oh the injustice of it all. It seems that the 3208T is the
easiest choice for a
repower, but alot of work and several $$$ for another 15ish MPH. I see some
folks doing a
Cummins conversion, but I can't imagine it would be alot better...if any, just
more work.
Seems like a medium duty Duramax with the Allison might be a good choice, but
now we
start
> re-inventing the wheel, we bought the bus for recreation, not another project.
Any
thoughts?? Doug
>






Doug Engel, Gunnison, CO. 1981 FC35SB "Pokey"

---------------------------------
Sponsored Link

Degrees online in as fast as 1 Yr - MBA, Bachelor's, Master's, Associate -
Click now to apply

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Mike Hohnstein]

Complications come with computerized drive trains. Requires all the control
modules and wiring harnesses. These items are chassis specific and not friendly
to other than OEM applications. Then there is the matter of cost, it is
significant.
MH
----- Original Message -----
From: Doug Engel
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 9:05 AM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Thanksgiving Raton Pass. Survey


Bruce, I had figured that unless I went big (read:300HP+) I would not get
enough bang for my buck. One of our issues with the new bird is while living in
Gunnison has its benefits, you have to drive over a pass any direction you head
out of here. For instance, to head east, Monarch Pass is the most direct route,
11K'+, the climb up is about 7 miles, at 20 MPH, that's about 20-25 minutes, not
a great delay in the grand scheme of things, but fairly arduous, and I hate
holding up traffic. I know that I could (if I were able) spend another $250K and
scoot right up in some other, high HP bus, but then I wouldn't have a vintage
Bird...oh the injustice of it all. It seems that the 3208T is the easiest choice
for a repower, but alot of work and several $$$ for another 15ish MPH. I see
some folks doing a Cummins conversion, but I can't imagine it would be alot
better...if any, just more work. Seems like a medium duty Duramax with the
Allison might be a good choice, but now re-inventing the wheel, we bought the
bus for recreation, not another project. Any thoughts?? Doug

birdshill123 wrote: I have always used the Raton Pass
as my "dyno test" Our 88 FC is able
to maintain 32mph while towing a 4400 lb. Toyota Tacoma. The Bird was
empty as we had just bought our baby and were driving it home. I have
never driven an NA FC but there is a big difference in power from a 250
Turbo to the 300 Turbo.

Bruce
1988 FC35

Doug Engel, Gunnison, CO. 1981 FC35SB "Pokey"

---------------------------------
Sponsored Link

Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $510,000 Mortgage for $1,698/mo - Calculate new
house payment

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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